Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey, & England

Bulgaria was the main event here. My dad had always wanted to go, and I was game. We made it a road trip, starting in Kosovo and ending in Bulgaria. I really liked Bulgaria! The forests were beautiful and full of cool ruins to explore; it felt like there was a lot to discover. Veliko Tarnovo was a nice city. The Black Sea coast was much more picturesque than I expected, and my worldview has now expanded to encompass the existence of Bulgarian surfer dudes. And the cuisine was limited, but not half bad.

This was my second time in Kosovo, and the first time I’d really hiked outside of town there (since I didn’t have a car the first time). It was beautiful, but I was very disappointed to see how much trash there was on the trails. Seems like a lot of people hike up into the woods for picnics and don’t really treat the place with respect.

Our stop in Macedonia was brief, but we had some good food and saw the Alexander the Great-themed neoclassical glow-up attempt in the middle of Skopje.

Istanbul was amazing, as always.

And I was just in the UK for a few days to visit a college friend, but we visited the coolest museum ever: the Weald & Downland Living Museum. I could easily spend another day there.